Kennedy knew 20% of layoffs at Health and Human Services could be a mistake

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced up to 20 percent of the

recent layoffs at his department may have been in error and that those employees will need to be

reinstated. The department fired approximately 10,000 workers this week, meaning up to 2,000

will need to be rehired. Kennedy said some of the mistakes include members of the lead poisoning and

surveillance unit at the CDC and the tobacco addiction team at the FDA. Personnel that

should not have been cut or cut or reinstating them, and that was always the plan

When he announced the cuts, Kennedy said HHS needed to be recalibrated to focus on disease

prevention, not just sick care. According to Kennedy's statement to reporters, the Department

of Government Efficiency wanted to focus on cuts to administrative roles like human resources or

communications positions. He said there were, quote, tremendous redundancies, unquote, throughout the department, including over 100 communications departments

40 procurement departments, and dozens of HR and IT departments. Most of the cuts are to those administrative sections, which are now consolidating

we're eliminating the redundancies, we're streamlining the agencies, we're going to make

it work for public health, make it work for the American people. Kennedy said both personnel and

studies that should not have been cut were cut. Other safety-related positions that were

eliminated include those who work to prevent the spread of food-borne illnesses. The FDA will cut

back on routine food safety inspections and instead focus on high-risk facilities

I'm Ray Bogan for Straight Arrow News. For more reporting, download the SAN app